April 18, 2007

GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-- Longwood University softball bounced back from a 5-2 game one loss to defeat Virginia 6-2 in game two Wednesday afternoon in Charlottesville.  The spilt puts the Lancer at 19-15 overall while Virginia moves to 15-31  on the season.  Longwood will return to action on Saturday, April 21, when they take on the Florida Gators in a 12 p.m. doubleheader match-up in Gainesville, Fla..

Virginia jumped on the board in the first inning, bringing in two runs on a single by Meghan O’Leary for the 2-0 lead after two.  The Cavaliers were able to build a 5-0 lead after bringing a run in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

The Lancers cut the deficit to 5-2, after Pepper Wilson/Mechanicsville (Lee-Davis) doubled down the left field line to bring in Caitlin Hooe/Richmond (Douglas Freeman) from third and Camille Ketsdever/Irvine, Calif. (Irvine) at second for the 5-2 score. 

Longwood threatened in the seventh but were unable to bring any runs in dropping 5-2 to the Cavaliers.  Ashley Forsyth/Freehold, N.J. (Freehold) recorded the loss in the circle for the Lancers, allowing two runs on six hits in two innings of play.  Rachel Mills/Quinton (New Kent County) pitched the remainder of the game and allowed two runs on seven hits in four innings of action.

In game two, the Lancers put six runs on the board in the first two innings after a three-run shot off the bat of Washington in the first and two-run shot from Ketsdever in the second for the 6-0 lead after two innings in the books.  Washington went 2-3 in the game and scored two runs while bringing in three base runners in the win.

Hooe stared things off with a lead-off double to left center and moved to third on a single from Ketsdever, putting runners at the corners with no outs.  Washington then came to bat and hit a homerun over the centerfield fence, clearing the bases and giving Longwood the 3-0 lead.  The hits kept coming for the Lancers, Kaitlyn McKeown/Gordsonville (Orange County) and Wilson tallied back-to-back singles, to keep Longwood threatening with no outs.  That was it for Virginia’s pitcher Karla Wilburn,  as the Cavaliers brought in Coty Tolar to pitch the remainder of the game.  After a sacrifice bunt by Amy Betterton/Rocky Mount (Franklin County) moved McKeown and Wilson to second and third, Tolar got the next Longwood batter to hit into a fielder’s choice double play, getting McKeown out at home and Wilson out at third and recorded the final out on pop fly to center field to keep the score at 3-0 in favor of Longwood.

Mills kept the Cavaliers’ bats quiet in the first inning facing four batters, and having the lone batter reach on a fielding error to keep the Lancers up by three after the first inning of play.

The Lancers continued to roll offensively in the top of the second, bringing three more runs in to double their lead to 6-0.  Hooe hit a one out single and came in on Longwood’s next batter, as Ketsdever hit her fourth homerun of the year over the right field fence for the 5-0 lead.  Longwood would not stop there, as Washington hit an infield single and stole second with two outs to put herself in scoring position.  Wilson brought Washington in on a single through the right side for the 6-0 lead.  With Wilson at third, Tolar got the next Lancer batter to strike out ending the threat.

The Cavaliers threatened in the second half of the inning, after Sarah Tacke hit a double to right field putting a runner in scoring position with one out.  Michelle Salmiery moved Tacke over to third on a single, putting runners at the corners with on outs.  Tacke tried to score on the next sequence of pitches after Mills had a pitch get away from her, but Emily Radford/Tacoma, Wash. (Fife) tracked the ball down and threw Tacke out at the plate to keep the shutout going after two.

Mills continued to pitch strong and carried the shut out into the sixth inning before Virginia knocked in two runs to cut the lead to 6-2 after six.  That’s as close as the Cavaliers would get as Mills did not let another run come across the plate in her ninth win of the year.  Mills went the distance and allowed two runs, on nine hits while fanning one batter.